Some existing systems identify a hard type failure on an individual customer premise device, e.g., a cable modem, based on an individual poll and use of simple threshold, e.g., a comparison to a pass/fail power level threshold. Such an approach is well suited for detecting a failure in a transmitter and/or receiver of an individual device located at a customer premise. While detection of failures of devices such as cable modems located at individual customer premises can be useful in addressing the service needs of individual customers who are suffering from a faulty customer premise device various other types of network faults may affect multiple customers at the same time. The failure of an individual cable modem provides little information with regard to the probability that other cable modems, potentially installed at different times, are likely to fail.
Distribution nodes and/or communications links which are used in a network to supply content to multiple customer premise devices are potential network failure points which can affect a large number of customer premises at the same time, e.g., a local or regional failure affecting many customer premises may result when a distribution node or communications link fails.
The existing systems of detecting faults in an individual customer premise device, e.g., cable modem, are not well suited to identify exiting or potential network level problems which may affect multiple customer premise locations in a geographic area.
In view of the above discussion it should be appreciated that there is a need for methods and/or apparatus for identifying existing network communications problems and/or identifying potential network level problems which may affect multiple customer premise locations at the same time preferably prior to an actual network outage. Such methods and/or apparatus can be useful in targeting diagnostic resources and/or maintenance personnel to a node or area where problems with network equipment and/or communications links have the potential to affect multiple customer premise locations at the same time prior to or in response to a communications, e.g., content delivery, problem.